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My most enjoyable educational role is working with children as they unravel the mysteries of reading and writing. My name is Diane Dobbs and I live in Toronto, Canada. My husband, David, and I have two children: Victoria, age 14 and Christopher, age 9.
Back in 1984, I was teaching exceptionally bright toddlers and tots at a pre-school, working as an E.C.E. Computer Specialist. Back then, the selection of educational computer programs suitable for children under the age of five, was very meager. This encouraged David and me to write our own educational language arts software for the Commodore®64. I incorporated our creations, along with a few quality commercial programs, into my lessons.
I had a feeling that our software could noticeably improve a child's communication skills. I don't know for sure if it did, but over the next five years, more than four hundred very young children left us with a solid reading and writing foundation, and many were reading and composing stories at levels far above average.
Everybody has a different learning style, and kids need a variety of teaching approaches in order to master the art of reading and writing. As teaching tools, we discovered that the most useful software recognized that diversity by offering a wide range of features and activities. The kids found it easy to gravitate towards the elements they found interesting and challenging. The same principles apply to interactive web sites aimed at children.
Toronto public schools continue to receive high numbers of English-as-a-Second-Language (E.S.L.) students, each year. In fact, Toronto has been recognized by the United Nations as the world's most diverse multicultural city. Six years ago I decided to port my Early Childhood Education (E.C.E.) skills over to our local public school and began working with E.S.L. and remedial reading students. I found I needed to continue searching for versatile material suitable for the 6 to 14 age group.
As the Internet gained popularity in schools, I went surfing for sites that would meet my high expectations. I discovered some great ones. I invite you to join me on a cyberspace expedition, as I direct you to a variety of locations, each one unique and wonderful.
 
Hop Pop Town
Kid's Space, however, fosters a clear understanding of basic Internet skills by gently leading the novice on Guide Bear's Guide Tour. Kids are encouraged to send in their pictures, stories and music, thoroughly tutored each step of the way. The Kids' Dictionary explains terms, like browser and e-mail using words and pictures that are comprehensible. Kids' Space Connect evolved to facilitate easy global communication among children. The site is organized into:
Once again, Guide Bear has a tour for newcomers. Hop Pop Town is where kids aged 3 to 10 can go to learn about music. To play at this site Netscape 2.0 or higher is required, with the Shockwave add-on. Musical games include sing-a-longs, a brain teaser and animal sounds. Pop is the tour guide. These are safe places for children, 16 years old and under, to establish good relationships with other children living in over 115 countries. All the entries are checked out before being put up.
The After School Clubhouse is just right for children in grades 3 to 8 who love to read and are in constant need of kid-recommended books. In Reading Room, the books are arranged by grade level. For instance, let's go into the Grade 5 area and take a moment to read the Kidviews on James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl. Reading other children's thoughts on a book encourages a child to go to the library and read it himself. If a child wishes to write a Kidview, submissions are simple, it's all done on-line.
The After School Clubhouse also has Brainteasers to aid in the development of problem solving techniques and a variety of educational games in the Fun Stuff section. Some games are played on-line, while others like WEBWORDFIND are printed first. The solutions for the word searches are posted.
Children (entry limited to grades 3-8) can play a cool on-line Internet Scavenger Hunt, a great way of learning and using Internet searching techniques. The contest changes on the last Thursday of every month.
Mountain Lake Software, Inc.® publishes two sites for children. Cyberkids® was launched in 1994 for young kids, but after this site became popular with the teenage crowd Cyberteens® was added in 1995.
Both sites encourage young creators to submit original artwork, stories, poems, photographs, reviews, games, movies and music compositions to the Editor for publication consideration. The material viewed on their sites is therefore of excellent quality. The two on-line magazines, Zeen and KidZeen, and the art and music galleries, showcase many talented youngsters. For children who have an appetite for books, The Chosen Ones is an on-line science fiction serial novel, written by Julie Richer, Editor and President of Mountain Lake Software.®
As a teacher, I learned that the art of writing is as important as reading, and should bring with it the disciplines of spelling and grammar. When a child writes for the "global" audience, he/she learns to be aware of errors in the items submitted. As an extra bonus, typing skills are assimilated. One site which strengthens and encourages writing is KidPub, a truly exception place, and our last stop.
KidPub started as an activity to encourage the Webmaster's nine-year old daughter's creative writing. This "hobby" project is now home for over 8,000 stories written by children all over the world. Publishing a story on this site is once again made extremely easy. Kids can use either the Online Story Form or submit their story via e-mail. A nice motivational feature included with the published story is a counter which indicates the number of times the story has been read. There are a lot of talented writers.
Another option offered at this site is collaborating an existing creation, that is read what's in the story and write the next paragraph. I think this is a wonderful interpretation of a group project.
KidPub offers three different ways for kids to employ effective written communication skills. Messages can be posted in KidPub Notes. Users jot down quick notes to other authors. For long-term letter writing, KeyPals is the place to find an Internet friend. KidMud: a multi-user chat room.
Chat rooms are places on the Internet where you can converse with several people simultaneously, like a conference call except parties type instead of talk. However, KidMud is also a fantasy world. Once inside, there are commands a participant can enter via the keyboard to move around. Kids can create and describe objects for others to look at, sit on, pick up or eat. Messages to other inhabitants can be sent both privately or publicly. "Newbies" to KidMud have on-line HELP available to them, or they can be coached by a seasoned player. To get a feel for the type of magic being created here, visit The Lounge.
©Copyright 1997 |
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